EXMOUTH, EDWARD PELLEW, 1ST VISCOUNT English admiral, was born at Dover, on April 19, 1757. In 17 7 o he entered the navy, where his great ability soon became apparent. He had no opportunity of active service till 1776, when his action at the battle of Lake Champlain gained him a lieutenant's commission and the command of the "Carleton." In 1777 he commanded a brigade of seamen in General Bur goyne's American campaign, and three years later he compelled three French privateers to run ashore, for which act he received the rank of post-captain. During the French revolutionary wars he commanded the "Nymph" and the "Arethusa," and then hoisted his flag as a squadron commander in the "Indefatigable"; for his bravery in boarding the wrecked transport "Dutton," and the measures which he adopted to save the lives of all on board, he was in 1796 created a baronet. In 1798 he joined the channel fleet, and in command of the "Impetueux" (74) took part in several actions with great distinction.
In 1802 Pellew was elected M.P. for Dunstable. In 1804 he be came commander-in-chief in India, where he entirely cleared the seas of French cruisers, and secured complete protection for Brit ish commerce. He returned to England in 1809, held the North Sea (1810) and Mediterranean (1811) command, and in 1814 was created Baron Exmouth. When the dey of Algiers, in 1816, violated the treaty for the abolition of slavery, Exmouth was directed to attack the town. Accordingly, on Aug. 26, he engaged the Algerine battery and fleet, and after a severe action, set on fire the arsenal and every vessel of the enemy's fleet, and shat tered the sea defences into ruins. For this victory Exmouth was advanced to the dignity of viscount. Shortly before his death, on Jan. 23, 1833, he was made vice-admiral.
His descendant, Charles Ernest Pellew (b. 1863), became the 7th viscount in 1923.
Exmouth's second son, Sir Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew (1789-1861), was like his father an admiral. The third son was George Pellew (1793-1866), author and divine, who mar ried Frances (d. 187o), daughter of the prime minister, Lord Sidmouth, whose biography he wrote (Tile Life and Corre spondence of Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, 1847)• Exmouth had a brother, Sir Israel Pellew (1 7 58-183 2) , also an admiral, who was present at the battle of Trafalgar.
A Life of the ist viscount, by Edward Osler, was published in 1835.